


Blood, Family or Both

by adangerousbond



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Brightwell, F/M, Gen, Two Shot, just 5k of, no idea what exactly this is, really not much more to say
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26419345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adangerousbond/pseuds/adangerousbond
Summary: Post S1 Season finale two shot
Relationships: Gil Arroyo & Dani Powell, Gil Arroyo & Malcolm Bright, Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright & Jessica Whitly, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Blood, Family or Both

**Author's Note:**

> Started writing this back when it first aired, but got sidetracked.  
> What actually is it? No idea!  
> No much of an actual plot, I just love this show a lot and was missing it so decided to finish this.  
> Have started the next/last chapter, but honestly, probably will take a bit to finish it.  
> Unedited as usual.  
> Still figuring out these characters, they're so complex and tricky, but so great!  
> Enjoy!

He had failed, failed his sister in a way that he couldn't fully grasp yet, he had been running over everything, more than just the events from that night; their childhood, family dinners, events, anything that he might have gotten some sort of hint of what she was capable of it. There was a moment, a small moment, before Dani and JT had knocked – having come due to his earlier text -, that he was debating on taking the blame or hiding the body.

The next few hours had been filled off questions and police tape once again going up around his family home, the constant string of something to do had been working to distract him from his questions, from his newest issues. That was until he had hitched a ride into the station, unable to follow his sister into her holding, and unable to make himself leave; there the silence gave him the opportunity to start the new line of blame and hatred that was filling him.

The small tap on the glass door as she entered, did nothing to draw his attention, her presence wasn't any form of threat to him, not that he was sure that his body would even register a threat anymore, and her compassion was the last thing he deserved. He made no move to break the silence, no move to reach out to the person he had pushed away numerous times already, only to pull her back, and for some reason she kept coming back.

"Come on, I'll take you home," Dani spoke quietly, a slight nod as he stood being the only response she got.

Making her way back towards the bullpen, she turned her head back slightly to ensure he was following, he caught her eye for a moment, looking away ashamedly as he saw the concern in them. Glancing towards the room that held his sister, he could see his mother's lawyers in with her, trying as best as possible to understand, to make sense of the night, and attempt to come up with their game plan; insanity would be his guess.

\---------------

By the time they got back to his loft, the voices in his head hadn't quietened any, he wasn't any closer to getting the answers that he was after and a part of him wondered if he ever would, he was still trying to answer similar questions about his father after all. He hadn't spoken the whole car ride, and she hadn't pried, hadn't pushed for anything, because she knew him better, she knew he wasn't ready to talk, but she also knew that he shouldn't be alone, and for that, for her, he was grateful.

"How, how did I miss it?" he asked himself more than he asked her, voicing the question that had been eating at him since the moment it happened, how did he miss that his little sister was capable of that, capable of something he had proven that he wasn't even able of, and he was the one with he list of issues a mile long; he was the one their father had groomed.

Her eyes snapped to him, she wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault, that he wasn't responsible for the actions of others, but instead she sunk down onto the bed next to him. Sitting for a moment before wrapping her arm around his shoulders, she let him fall into her, knowing better than to give him any response, knowing nothing that she could say right now would help.

He had well and truly been running past empty, so it didn't surprise her in the slightest as his breathing evened out and his body relaxed as sleep overtook it. Gently, she lowered them side wards back onto the bed, she knew that she should leave or at the very least wait him out on the couch, but there was something about the way he was curled into her side, something about the way he finally seemed at peace, at ease, or as much as she felt he would possibly be able to at the moment, that made her stay.

\---------------

The thrashing woke her before she heard the ringing, it took her a second to realise exactly what was going on and where she was, but when she remembered, action took over her sleep state and she moved to wake him, a hand moving to stop the phone as she did.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, it's just my phone alarm," she explained, her hands reaching to his shoulders to still him, focus him.

"Dani?" Malcolm asked as the haze faded, his eyes catching her with confusion replacing the fear.

"Sorry, must have fallen asleep," she brushed off his gaze with an apologetic smile, quickly moving to get up off his bed, her lack of comment to his nightmare not going unnoticed by him.

"Why does your alarm go off so early?" he chuckled, glancing at the time on his phone and realising it was only 5am, which also meant that even with the late hour that they had gotten back to, he had actually managed to get a couple hours sleep.

"I like to have the chance to get some things done before work," she reasoned, heading to his kitchen to make them some coffee, knowing neither was about to be able to get back to sleep.

"What could you possibly have to do at this time?" Malcolm stuck with the small talk, skipping over her being there and ignoring everything that had gone down the day before.

"Go for a run," she shrugged, leaning against his counter tiredly, the last few days had been a lot on them all, and it wasn't about to ease up anytime soon.

"We should go to the hospital, check on Gil, and…" he paused, accepting the coffee off her as he didn't want to think about what else he needed to do.

"And check on your mother," she finished for him, nodding in agreement on his plan.

\---------------

Trailing behind as they entered Gil's room, Malcolm couldn't help but feel dread, Gil's eyes flew to them both, his mothers landed on his with a sense of relief. Relief that he knew he would quickly ruin, just like he seemed to ruin everything, he just hoped at least some one had given them the run down on what had happened, but from what he could grasp so far, he didn't hold much hopes on that.

"Malcolm, dear," Jessica near cried, jumping up to hug her son, accepting the coffee from his companion with a small smile as she stepped back.

"How are you feeling?" Dani directed toward Gil; her eyes full of concern as she took in his condition.

"Like getting stabbed is the least of my problems right now," Gil spoke in his levelled tone that he had managed to perfect after all these years of dealing with this family.

"What happened? We've only gotten the abridged version, well, that and the news' version, but surely, surely…" Jessica trailed off, the look on her son's face giving away more than she wanted.

"How bad is it?" Gill asked, his training getting his answer from their body language before he got his verbal one.

"Pretty bad," Dani spoke up after sharing a look with Malcolm.

"I have all our lawyers working on it, they'll sort it out," Jessica once again saw something on her son's face. "Right?"

"Mother..." Malcolm started, his sentence ending before it really started once he realised that he didn't know how to continue.

"God, all this time I was so worried about what he did to you, how did I miss this?" Jessica reiterated the thoughts running through her son's mind.

"We all did," Gil agreed, his eyes trained on the profiler, trying to determine just how worried he needed to be about the man he considered a son, "are you holding up okay kid?"

"Yeah," Malcolm answered haphazardly, watching his mother read something on her phone, "what is it mother?"

"The lawyers, they are wanting to go over some things with us, they're still at the station with Ainsley," she told him, shaking her head over the fact she always seemed to be having to deal with murders and lawyers.

"I can give you a ride," Dani offered, gaining a thanks in response.

"Dani, a moment," Gil instructed as the group made their way to leave, waiting until she was the only one left in the room to continue, "thank-you, for looking out for him."

"Of course," she responded as if it was something that didn't need to even be mentioned, gaining a smile off her mentor.

\---------------

The silence in the precinct made Dani check the time, she had gotten lost in the files and hadn't realised how late it had gotten. Glancing around she laid eyes on him, unsurprised that he had still been there, he had been with his mother and their lawyers for hours and then stuck around, trying to be of assistance to them, and trying to work out his own answers.

"Let's get out of here," she instructed, knowing he would follow without complaint.

They entered his apartment as quietly as the night before, the extra twenty-four hours had not done anything to gain him any more understanding, or any less guilt, if anything it had just brought him more questions, more guilt. Sitting in the room across from his sister, watching her confusion and apparent lack of any memories had made him wonder if it was the truth or an act, and then he had felt worse for even questioning if she would be lying, which had made him realise it was that thinking that made it hard for him to have seen what she was capable of, and so, he was just going around in circles in his head.

"I'm going to stay, okay?" Dani broke the silence, broke the endless loop running through his mind, he had told her once it was like an never ending horror film in the silence, and he knew she was trying as best as possible to let him have his silence without going too deep down.

"You don't have to," he smiled sadly at her, the last thing he wanted was to drag her further into his family's mess, no matter how much he wanted her at his side.

"I want to," she assured him, wrapping a throw rug from the back of the couch around herself as she made her way around to the front of the couch, leaving no room for further questioning.

"You, you can sleep with, on, we can clearly both fit on my bed, you know, if you want to, that is," he stammered, he was exhausted and the idea of her being close, the idea of getting some non-restless sleep was enticing, and he felt like he was asking too much, but she hadn't seem to mind so far.

"I thought you didn't sleep with others," she teased, tilting her head at his rambling.

"I – maybe I didn't mind it," he offered, a small grin slipping out at her playful tone.

"You sure?" she furrowed her brows, wanting to know he was one hundred percent certain.

"On one condition," he nodded in confirmation, smirking at her as she awaited the condition, "you change your alarm time."

\---------------

Barely an hour later, she woke with a start, his thrashing more violent than the other morning, similar to the time in the station and she realised that it was because it was from a nightmare, and not from something outside his mind startling him. Earlier in their friendship she had knocked him out to stop his nightmares, but now she knew him better, she wasn't worried about her safety and she trusted him enough to know that it wasn't him, that he was hurting, that he was trapped.

"Hey, hey, hey, Bright, it's okay, it's okay," she repeated herself over and over to him, trying to calm him and trying to wake him without him hurting either of them.

"Sorry," he stated sheepishly once he came too, shame taking over the wild fear in his eyes, sitting up and staring into his dark loft as he tried to focus on calming his breaths.

"Do you want tea, or anything?" she offered calmly, laying back down on the bed when he shook his head in response, leaving no room for him to question if she wanted to leave, if she was uncomfortable or worried.

The ringing of her phone woke them both at a much more civilised time, the noise not startling him as much this time, seeing's as he was already half awake. Glancing at the lit up screen, she answered it in an annoyed tone, laying back on the bed as she gave the caller a few basic responses to what they were telling her before ending the call as she stood and started to get herself ready.

"What is it with your phone?" Malcolm joked, sitting on the edge of the bed lazily as watched her move around his loft as if it was hers; something that he found he didn't mind, in fact he liked it.

"It was JT, we have a body," she explained, quickly continuing before he had a chance to speak, "and no, you cannot come, they might not have laid any charges yet -"

"But they may and me helping on the case could cause issues at trial," he accepted it easier than she had expected.

Yep, but I can give you a lift to the hospital, or the station on my way?" she offered, not wanting to leave him by himself if she could help it, gaining a nod in response.

\---------------

They all stood quietly as the doctor explained the situation, using words and phrases they weren't too sure on, and even had they understood, it wouldn't have changed their worry about their friend and colleague. Jessica had shut down everyone's offer to stay, telling them to go home and rest, that she would watch over him and let them know of any changes, and one by one, her strict mothering tone won out and the rest of the team left.

It was still well into the night by the time they made it back to Malcolm's loft, neither in a hurry to stop, to let their minds run. They made their way to his kitchen island quietly, Malcolm setting to pouring them a drink each – a non-alcoholic one for her - as she leaned back against the bench behind her, setting her hands on cold benchtop in an attempt to ground herself.

"He'll be okay," Malcolm stated, trying to convince her as much as him, moving to stand next to her, placing a tumbler next to her hand.

"You don't know that," Dani responded, adverting her glaze to the drink, making no move to take it, it wouldn't help distract her, it wouldn't help drown out the concern over the threat of yet another father figure in her life dying.

"It's Gil, if he can put up with my family, he can survive anything," he tried again, coaxing a small smile out of her, his own only lasting a few seconds.

"That is a good point," she turned to him, watching him place his tumbler on the bench too, his hand still on it to try and quieten the tremor, her hand coming to his to still it, as he did hers nights prior.

His eyes flew to hers at the action, the air thick around them as they both realised the lack of space between them, and neither found they cared. He hesitated a moment, seeing the hint of fire lurking up on the pain and worry in her eyes, and he wondered if his showed the same, his hesitation giving her the extra moment to come to the same decision, the both of them closing the gap simultaneously, the kiss rough and demanding, but with a level of tenderness that seemed to be their own kind of rapport with each other.

"This is a terrible idea," he chuckled, pulling back a moment, leaving his hand in her hair as he did, not quite ready to stop touching her, to give her up.

"Definitely," she nodded in agreement, closing the distance between them once more, chasing the distraction that kissing him offered, the distraction and the feeling that maybe things might just end up okay that he seemed to offer her.

"I might be out of practice, but I don't think this is what friends do," he pulled away once again, his hand on her waist holding her close, searching her face for permission, for assurance, for something he couldn't quite place.

"No, I don't think it is," she grinned back, her eyes dropping from his as she slowly started undoing his shirt buttons, sensing he still had something he wanted to say.

"I can't say I'm in the best headspace," he told her more seriously this time, and he could see that she took in his words, that she knew he was giving them and out, a way to walk away without changing anything too much.

"Are you ever?" she teased, playing with his loose shirt before conceding, "maybe I'm not either."

"So, we probably shouldn't?" his words came out as more of a question than a statement, she was after all, about his only friend, and as much as they both clearly were okay and wanting what was happening, he couldn't help but feel it was a line they shouldn't cross, that he shouldn't pull her further into the magnitude of issues that was him and his family.

"Probably not," she agreed, leaning back towards him, nonetheless, slipping his shirt off his shoulders as she trailed her lips across his neck, the action enticing a low growl from him as he slipped his hands under her shirt, working at pulling it up and off; both deciding that no matter how much they shouldn't, they both wanted to, needed to.

\---------------

For the third morning in a row, they were awoken by the sound of the loud ringing of a phone, or as they quickly realised, both their phones, the ringing stopping as the calls went to voicemail. They both chose to ignore their current lack of clothing, and what had gone down the night prior, like a mutual decision that it wasn't to be commented on, that it wasn't the time and neither were ready to.

"Yours was ringing too," she stated with a raised eyebrow, her teasing tone dropped quickly when she realised that both their phones ringing could be bad.

Realising their phones were still up on the bench they made their way over, wanting both to know, but also an unease to the air about what the answer might be. Grabbing his shirt off the floor on the way, Dani covered herself up more, ignoring the look that he gave her at the sight, she was definitely not in a place to comment, instead she hit redial on J.T.'s missed call, gaining as little information as Malcolm seemed to be getting from his mother, both sighing with relief that it at least all seemed good.

\---------------

Walking into the hallway that was becoming all too familiar, Dani placed the tray of coffees and pastries on the nurse's desk as they past, something that had become somewhat of a ritual for Malcolm and her as a way to feel like they were doing something, helping in some way. Catching sight of his mother, they continued on, the concern dissipating even more as his mother smiled warmly at their arrival.

"Ah, Malcolm, good timing," Jessica signalled for them to join her with the surgeon and Edrisa, "this lovely young man was just telling us that the surgery went well, and he should be out and in post op soon enough."

"So, you two are the ones bribing the nurses around here?" the surgeon laughed as he noticed that the two had a tray of hot drinks and pastries in their hands.

"What do you mean?" Dani asked, handing Jessica her coffee and pastry as Malcolm gave Edrisa hers.

"They told us that we had to save him, otherwise you two would stop bringing them treats," the surgeon explained, declining the offer of one from the tray.

"If a few coffees is all that it takes to ensure Gil's recovery, then we are more than happy to oblige," Malcolm responded quickly, smiling at his mother's approval in the unknown tactic.

"Wait, did you too come here together?" Edrisa asked, suddenly glancing between the two searching for answers.

"So, all good news then?" J.T. questioned before any response was made as he and Tally approached, the two on their way to an ultrasound appointment, having made sure to give themselves the time to stop in for an update on Gil's condition.

\---------------

By the time the sun had well and truly gone down, and the precinct had all but cleared out, J.T. ended up having to all but order them to go home, as he himself collected his things to leave. Malcolm had commandeered a nearby desk as his own, trying to go through as much as they would give him access to, and had been ready to challenge the request, until Dani flicked her head in the direction of the elevator, silently telling him to follow, the three leaving together without a word.

There was a slight unease in the air as the two made their way into his loft, the unspoken agreement that they weren't talking about the night prior didn't change the fact that they both remembered it. Placing her keys on his counter, Dani moved around to his kitchen to work out if he did have anything somewhat acceptable in the food department or if she would be better off ordering them dinner, ignoring the feeling of domestically that riled up inside her.

"You really don't have to keep staying here," Malcolm broke the silence, pulling out a container of bird seed, Sunshine's constant chirping reminding him to feed her.

"You really think you should be left alone?" she raised her eyebrow, waiting for his counter, knowing full well no matter his response, it wouldn't change her opinion.

"I think it's unfair on you to be forced into the mess that is me and my family," he told her, watching her closely, profiling her reaction, a part of him wanting her to leave and another wanting her to stay, but all of him knowing it was her choice.

"What do you want for dinner?" she asked after a beat, not entirely sure how to respond, but choosing to ignore his comment instead of making a retort to it, she pulled out her phone and set to ordering them food instead.

\---------------

Coming out of the bathroom the next morning, she froze for a moment at the sight of Malcolm's mother standing in his kitchen, take out bags from what she did not doubt were from some upper scale restaurant. Continuing on her way after an apologetic look from Malcolm, she knew that there was no escaping the other woman, and she understood the will he had occasionally for a new case, just to give himself an easy out from these kinds of situations.

"Dani, come join us dear," Jessica instructed, ushering the younger woman over to the counter with a warm smile.

"Is everything okay? Is Gil okay?" Dani asked, suddenly concerned that something might have happened over night, taking a seat nonetheless on the bar stool next to Malcolm.

"Yes, yes, I just wanted to check in Malcolm, make sure he's looking after himself," the older woman informed her, placing a coffee in front of her as she continued her previous task of unpacking the breakfast she had picked up on her way over.

"What she means is now that Gil's out of the woods, I'm her new distraction from Ainsley," Malcolm stated, smirking at his mother as he challenged her to refute his statement.

"Hush Malcolm, just eat your breakfast," Jessica chastised, staring him down until he picked up the fork and started playing with the food.

"What is it?" Malcolm turned his attention to his partner, noticing her furrowed brow as she read her text.

"The FBI, they're taking over the investigation," her information drawing everyone's attention, "and there's another body."

"Who?" he asked, dropping his pretence of trying to eat the food in front of him.

"I don't know, doesn't seem like they are wanting that known just yet," she shook her head, her source lacking any details that might be helpful.

\---------------

The precinct was on edge the entire day, the FBI having taken over the conference room once more, rummaging through everything that they had found and keeping tight lipped over the new body, Agent Colette Swanson having returned with what seemed like a calm vengeance that put everyone on edge. It hadn't taken long for them to Malcolm into an interrogation, Dani calling Jessica the moment they did, knowing he wouldn't ask for counsel, but that his mother would force it upon him, a lawyer showing up not long after.

Both her and J.T. had tried to get more information about what was going on, but were met with walls at every turn and after reaching the conclusion they weren't going to get anywhere, they went back to focusing on the case they had. The two sharing a look of confusion when, after a few hours, one of the agents approached, requesting Dani join Colette in the conference room for a discussion, the request concerning them both as J.T. shot her a 'be careful' look as she agreed.

"We just need to confirm a few things with you Detective Powell, is that okay?" the agent who had come for her explained as she sat across from the two FBI agents.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice," Dani spoke jadedly, hoping at the very least, that she might get some information out of them.

"Do you know Mitchell Banks?" Colette jumped straight into her questions, watching her with close eye of a profiler, colder though, than the profiler she was used to.

"Should I?" she asked disinterestedly, the name not ringing a bell.

"He was a PI hired to look into the Whitley Family, Malcolm in particular," Colette explained, a distaste to her tone as she spoke of the former agent she had displayed a dislike for since the moment Dani had met her.

"I didn't know that, or him," Dani told them honestly, catching the way she referred to the PI in past tense and tucking the information away for later.

"Okay, do you happen to know where Malcolm Bright was last night? Between midnight and 3am to be exact," Agent Swanson questioned, the air around them shifting into something more of an interrogation.

"At his home," Dani stated without pause, holding eye contact with the other woman as if to prove to her she was being truthful.

"Do you know this because you were with him?" the other agent asked, his tone calmer and less interrogative than his partner, as if he was just interested in the facts.

"Yes," she confirmed, catching a hint of surprise at the ease at which she gave her on record confirmation.

"The whole time?" Colette jumped back in, raising her eyebrow at her question.

"Yes," Dani once again stated calmly, crossing her arms in annoyance at the line of questioning.

"Are the two of you in a relationship?" the profiler spoke with distaste, her dislike for the man in question evident in her voice, something that wasn't missed by the other two in the room.

"No," Dani's response coming quick and easily, she truthfully wasn't entirely sure how to define what they were, but she knew that they were at the very least a proper conversation away from any form of actual labels, probably more than one.

"But you are sleeping together?" Colette near stated, her tone cold and judgemental as she had already made up her mind.

"What does any of this have to do with it?" Dani asked instead of answering, something that she could tell that the agent across from her took as a confirmation.

"We are just trying to determine Malcolm's whereabouts for the murder," the other agent explained to her, placing a file in front of her with basic details on the murder of Mr Banks, confirming her theory that he was dead.

"Wait, you think Bright did this?" Dani queried, having skimmed over the file quickly.

"We found his DNA all over the victim, he has motive and what is becoming a method of killing," Colette informed her, a hint of a smirk across her face, as if she was glad to finally have something to use against him, something to lock him up with.

"It wasn't him, like I said, I was with him the whole night," Dani told them, her voice firm as she backed up her partner, suddenly glad that she had kept being insistent that he not be alone.

"Were you sleeping?" the man across from her asked, running through his own list of questions, less personally back ones.

"Yes – but" she responded, quickly going to back it up further, knowing that the answer would give them a leeway into discrediting her alibi.

"So, he could have snuck out," he asked, jumping in before she could finish, or his partner could ask her own, more personal question.

"No, I'm a light sleeper, I would have woken if he left," she told them, a glint of determination to her stare as she tried to make them believe her.

"He could have drugged you; it is a favourite in his family after all," Colette suggested, shrugging at the dig at his family, knowing it was true.

"He didn't drug me," Dani snapped back, quickly getting over the interrogation and starting to wonder if she should have a lawyer with her.

"There wasn't a time, at all that you left him alone? Maybe to shower? Duck out to get food, anything?" the other agent spoke up, cutting through the tense air between the two women, bringing it back to confirming her story.

"Only when I showered in the morning and when I came out his mother had arrived, so he would have had barely 5 minutes to himself," Dani explained, realising that he was trying to see if her story matched the one Malcolm must have given them, and she couldn't help but wonder if he had hesitated in telling them that she had been there.

"Who's to say you're not just covering for him because you're sleeping with him?" Agent Swanson sneered at her, disapprovingly, her partner opening his mouth as if to say something, before deciding to remain silent instead.

"We are done here," Dani told them both, knowing she had answered enough of their questions.

"We are done when I say we are," Colette snapped back, glancing at her partner for back up and simmering down slightly when she found none.

"No, you are angry that to stick this murder on him you have to say a NYPD detective is lying and if the evidence is the same as Eddie's then that draws that charge into question as well," Dani pointed out, a slight rise to her voice as she reasoned, standing to leave.

"I thought you were smarter than to get involved with him," Colette told her in a disappointed tone, shaking her head at the detective.

"Look, I know you don't think very highly of him, but if you have any respect towards me, you have to at least consider the possibility he is being framed," Dani ignored her comment, glancing between the two as she spoke calmly, the lack of any response telling her that they begrudgingly could see her point as she left the conference room, needing some air.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: adangerousbond


End file.
